E-Business
Minister Seeks Digitalization of Indigenous Languages
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Alhaji Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture, has advocated the digitization of indigenous languages in order to avoid them going into extinction.
Speaking yesterday in Kaduna at the 2017 edition of the Annual Round Table on Cultural Orientation (ARTCO), organised by National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Mohammed said languages should go digital on various Internet platforms where youths and children are familiar with, so that they could begin to pick up their mother tongue from such electronic devices.
While commending the NICO for its work in the promotion of Nigerian languages over the years, the minister promised that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was committed to according Nigeria culture its pride of place in the developmental agenda of the country.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that our cherished cultural legacies and values are transmitted from one generation to another.
“The importance of indigenous language to national development cannot be over-emphasized. Language is the soul of culture; it is an indispensable tool for the promotion and preservation of culture. We cannot be genuinely committed to the promotion of our culture without addressing the serious issue of language endangerment and extinction.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that our indigenous languages are endangered and if urgent steps are not taken, they will go into extinction in no distant future.
“Situation reports show that there is a remarkable decline in the usage of our indigenous languages by our children and youths; many of them cannot read or write in their mother tongue.
“This is not surprising because, according to Nigerian writer Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezigbo, indigenous languages have been labelled as “vernacular’’ or “garbage’’ and as such, most African children in primary and secondary schools are even punished for speaking their mother tongues. That should never be the case.
“It has been my desire since I assumed duties as Honourable Minister to convene a strategic stakeholders’ meeting to underscore the relevance of the indigenous language newspapers and to engineer a road map for their sustenance in the face of formidable challenges. This explains why one of my first assignments in office was to visit identifiable indigenous newspapers like Alaroye, Iroyin Owuro, Rariya, Aminiya and Leadership Hausa.
“The visits convinced me, more than ever, that indigenous language newspapers have a vital role to play in reviving the fortunes of our endangered languages, if their potentials are maximized.
“The way forward is to fashion out strategies to address the problem. We must take urgent steps to encourage parents to ensure that their children are taught our indigenous languages. The teaching and learning of Nigerian indigenous languages as contained in the National Policy in Education must be fully implemented. Various platforms, such as the indigenous language newspapers, which promote the use of indigenous languages, should be supported and sustained.
“Beyond encouraging the teaching of indigenous languages to young people, a critical catalyst remains the engagement of young people via platforms popular with them. I am talking about, for example, translating our incredible treasure trove of literature, brimming with exciting classics such as The Lion and the Jewel, The Passport of Mallam Illia and Things fall apart not only into indigenous languages but also by adapting those classics into comics, graphic novels, TV shows as well as animated and live action feature films.
“These remain extremely popular media, especially among those aged below 30 years and who form a massive 70% of the population, where the storytelling is primed to excite, engage and enlighten. Indeed, not only will this optimize access to the wondrous worlds and richly realized characters teeming in these works, the exercise stands to reintroduce the younger generation to the rich and remarkable mosaic that is Nigerian culture, instill and inspire in them a strong bond with said culture as well as facilitate a greater understanding of their cultural identity and place in the world.
“The role of the electronic media in disseminating, aggregating and curating our indigenous languages cannot be overemphasized. There is serious potential in the plethora of programmes on radio, television and on the web to spread the comprehension, appreciation and adoption of indigenous languages.
“Still on the theme of electronically engaging the youth, it is imperative to deploy digital tools in ensuring the survival of our indigenous languages. Today, social media, YouTube, texting and specially developed applications for use on mobile devices are being used to attract young people to learning ‘endangered languages’.
“There are also websites and online forums where people can interact and optimize their knowledge of those languages. Those solutions are worth exploring seriously. An aggressive, digital approach to the challenges of preserving our indigenous languages for posterity will definitely yield great dividends especially among the youth” he said.
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has approved N242.8m for the procurement of a Microsoft 365 licence for its Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) as part of efforts to digitise the service’s operations.
Mr Michael Ango, acting executive chairman of FCT-IRS, disclosed this after the FCT Executive Committee meeting chaired by Mr Nyesom Wike, the minister of FCTA, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ango said that the FCTA was making significant investments in technology to enhance revenue generation and collection.
“So, this is also one of those investments in technology that the FCT is undertaking.
“The licence, if procured, will enhance our ability to move most of our manual processes into automated processes.
“It will enhance our ability to communicate within our offices,” he said.
The executive chairman added that the move would also reduce the use of paper and ensure better record-keeping through the storage of information and documents in the cloud.
According to him, “The licence will essentially enhance our operations and assist us in generating revenue for the development of the FCT under Wike’s leadership.”
Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III Carrier and Cloud neutral data centre, has welcomed Olla Cloud Service, a new private cloud service by Olla Systems Limited, a leading provider of innovative technology solutions, to its facility.
Hosting at Rack Centre, Olla Cloud Service runs on a state-of-the-art, cloud-enabled infrastructure for enterprise applications across diverse platforms, including mission critical application, web applications as well as containerised applications using Kubernetes.
Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre, welcoming Olla Systems, noted that the partnership with Olla Systems Limited would reflect the company’s commitment to providing African businesses with high- quality cloud computing services.
He noted that Olla Systems would enjoy Rack Centre’s 13.5MW data centre campus facility, designed to meet the highest international standards and offering scalable solutions to Hyperscalers, Enterprises, and Cloud service providers.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, the facility is equipped with energy-efficient systems, advanced cooling technologies to mitigate environmental impact and an optimally-designed feature to handle high-density workloads with precision.
According to Johannisson, “With Olla Cloud Service hosting at Rack Centre, clients will experience fast performance and low latency, enabling businesses in Africa to access world-class cloud computing services within a secure and compliant local infrastructure.”
Also speaking, Olusola Adenuga, chief executive officer, Olla Systems Limited, expressed enthusiasm about hosting at Rack Centre, noting that Olla Cloud remains a groundbreaking private cloud solution for businesses.
While highlighting the benefits of the partnership between Rack Centre and Olla Systems, Adenuga disclosed that “subscribing to Olla Cloud Service is cost-effective to customers because of its local currency payment advantage.”
She also noted that the partnership between the duo, provides businesses the opportunity to meet regulatory requirements of data residency, while enjoying world-class infrastructure as a service (IaaS) locally.
“Other benefits of hosting with Olla Cloud include: 24/7 support, unparalleled performance, scalability and agility.” she added.
A user’s messaging app account might be of interest not only to jealous spouses and nosy coworkers, but also to cybercriminals.
Stolen WhatsApp accounts are used for various types of criminal activity, ranging from spam distribution to sophisticated scam schemes.
Cybercriminals constantly look for WhatsApp accounts and use various methods to gain access to them.
There are two ways cybercriminals can gain control of a WhatsApp account: they can add another device to an existing account using the “Linked devices” feature, or they can re-register the account on their own device as if the user had bought a new phone.
“In the first case, the user continues to use WhatsApp as usual, but the criminals also have access to all recent conversations. In the second case, the user loses access to their personal account.
“When trying to log in, WhatsApp notifies him that the account is already in use on another device, and the attackers can then control the account but not the past conversations.
“Messengers are a private space, as they often contain personal information about our lives and relationships with family and friends. They can also contain information about work and, in some cases, confidential information.
“If you notice any unusual activity, such as receiving replies to messages that you didn’t send, or if your friends complain about strange messages coming from your account, it’s important to take steps to protect your privacy immediately,” comments Seifallah Jedidi, Head of Consumer Channel, META, at Kaspersky.
While you can check instruction on what to do in case a WhatsApp account was already compromised, here are the key steps on how to avoid a WhatsApp account to be hacked:
- Enable two-step verification in WhatsApp and memorise your PIN — it’s not a one-time code. To do this, go to Settings → Account → Two-step verification.
- Never, ever share your PIN or one-time registration codes with anyone. Only scammers ask for these details.
- WhatsApp recently introduced support for passkeys. If you enable this option (Settings → Account → Passkeys), logging in to your account will require biometric authentication, and instead of PIN codes, your smartphone will store a long cryptographic key. This is a very secure option, but it may not be convenient if you frequently change devices and switch between Android and iOS.
- Set up a backup email address for account recovery: Settings → Account → Email address.
- If you’ve already added an email address, log in to your email account and change your password to a strong, unique one. To store it securely, use a password manager, such as Kaspersky Password Manager.
- Enable two-factor authentication for your email account.
- Make sure you haven’t fallen victim to a SIM swap scam. Contact your mobile carrier — preferably in person — and verify that no duplicate SIM cards have recently been issued for your number. Also, make sure there’s no unauthorised call-forwarding set up on your number. Cancel any suspicious changes and ask the staff about additional security measures for your SIM card. These may include prohibiting SIM-related actions without your being present, an extra password required for authentication, or other protections. Available security measures vary significantly by country and mobile carrier.
Any security measures in WhatsApp will be of little use if your smartphone or computer is infected with malware. Therefore, be sure to install comprehensive protection like Kaspersky Premium on all your devices.
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